


Mood Swings

by Vampirtulpe



Category: Sanders Sides, Thomas Sanders
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humor, Multi, Slice of Life, not sure honestly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-07
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-03-15 03:23:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13604508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vampirtulpe/pseuds/Vampirtulpe
Summary: One of Logan's machines didn't work as planned and now are Logan, Roman and Virgil in great trouble, and they aren't quite sure how to fix the dilemma they are currently in.





	1. An Abundance of Patton's

Logan tended to do rather drastic things to do with his experiments, but he never expected to stand next to a blaster, that would separate objects into seperate beings, shining and ready to be activated. Logan sighed through his nose and massaged the bridge of his nose, really not sure why he built this impressive machine if it would have gone much faster if he simply started his experiment new.

This is about principle, Logan Sanders simply doesn’t make any mistakes and he didn’t plan to do so in the near future. So he built this machine to fix his mistakes and start everything anew. Logan sighed again, sometimes really irritated by his perfectionism while he plugged some wired into the remote to finally activate this stupid machine and return to his work. He ckecked every stat on his Laptop, from power to heat and nicked in satisfaction as everything seemed right. „All right, I will turn the device on and then finally resume to my studies. Three, two, one, go.“

He pressed the simple red button to turn it on, the machine emitting a quiet beeping noise as it came to life, roaming around with it’s visor and looking for a target to separate. Logan followed it’s movements with his laptop, pressing the button again as it finally locked down on the glass with the chemicals Logan wanted to seperate. The machine whirred loudly as it charged, before firing a blue laser, hitting the glass and actually separating not only the chemicals but the glass AND chemicals into their parts, Logan huffing as this experiment turned out as a failure.

He just had to did the experiment completely new, it was not too bad, at least he had now something to work on once he was done with this. The machine searched around again, Logan frowning in confusion as he pressed the button to turn the device of, but it still roamed around to look for a target. It locked onto a table and suddenly fired, separating the wood into it’s parts, the logical trait quickly ducking as a second beam almost hit him.

„Whart is going on?!“ Exclaimed Logan, who quickly rushed to his laptop to see if everything was alright, mouth dropping in panic as the metre indicating heat rose drastically. „IT’S OVERHEATING!“ Logan ducked under a table, dodging yet another ray that was directed at him while the machine seperated almost every item in the room. He just hoped the machine would finally shut down, but the remote quickly overheated too and was now too hot for Logan to hold, so he dropped it out of reflex, the remote being hit by another beam mid-air and separated into it’s parts. Logan could do nothing, he just had to wait and hope. 

The heart of the logical trait almost stopped as the literal heart of Thomas, Patton suddenly opened the door, calling worriedly: „Logan, are you alright?! I heard loud noises.“ He entered the room and stared with wide eyes at the machine, reacting to late to Logan’s order to „LOOK OUT, PATTON!“ The emotional trait got hit by a beam, and everything went down. Patton screamed, but it sounded like many screams, sparks and colours emitting from him, causing a strong wind, a literal cyclone in Logan’s laboratory. 

„PATTON!“ Logan got up and tried to shiel his eyes and face as the light got really bright, but Logan could hear the many voices, all different but somehow the exact same, and the spirits flying around, laughing and crying and screaming as they circled the laboratory faster and faster, the voices getting louder and louder and Logan actually thought, that his eardrums might pop. He spotted a blue ghost flying right through him, the logical trait blinking in confusion as tears ran down his cheeks, his entire being heavy and endless waves of sadness washed through his body.

Another flash so bright, Logan had to shield his eyes, and everything was over. The machine broke down and Patton was gone, the only indicator that everything happened at all the papers scattered around the laboratory, the logical trait blinking, before his eyes widened, screaming loudly: „PATTON?!“ He opened his door and ran out, looking around for the emotional trait. He had to ask around, maybe he was still somewhere, he just prayed that the machine didn’t separate Patton into his molecules. 

That would be a catastrophe. He didn’t even bother to knock and just slammed the door to Virgil’s door open, the anxious treat flinching at the sudden noise, before his head whipped to the door, glaring at the logical trait in the process, but glare quickly turning to concern as he saw Logan’s face. „You’re all disheveled. What happened?“ Logan panted, scanning the room for the emotional trait and yelling out of frustration and worry, the anxious trait’s eyes widening, but both of them stopping as they heard a noise.

It sounded like… Giggling?

They weren’t too sure. Logan scanned the room again, listening intently for the noise and finally pointing at Virgil’s bed. Virgil raised his brows but scrambled off and peeked under the bed, the anxious trait yelping and scrambling backwards as something came towards him. Logan’s jaw dropped as he spotted a mop of dark-green hair, followed by a face with grass-green skin, the eyes behind the glasses like emeralds. It was Patton… just green. 

He smiled at Virgil, entire being like a metaphorical beacon of happiness and light. „P-Patton?“ Logan managed to work the name out and the green Patton DID react to the name. His smile widened even more as he got up and ran towards Logan, jumping and hugging Logan with arms and legs, the logical trait quickly grabbing around the green Patton, so they wouldn’t drop.

„LOGAN! I’m so glad to see you!“ Both were just staring as the green Patton nuzzled the logical trait, both of them extremely confused, but having no time to process everything as yelling from Roman’s room got them out of their thoughts. They shot each other a glance before sprinting down the hallway towards Roman’s room, both standing in the doorway and staring. Roman was stumbling around, trying to fight something off that was on his shoulders and scratching at his face. It was… Patton, with light red skin and dark- red hair, the eyes like ruby’s and teeth like the fangs of a shark as he growled and snarled and cursed and scratched at Roman’s face.

„GET HIM OFF, GET HIM OFF OF ME!“ Screamed Roman, grabbing around the red Patton and falling backwards, the red man hissing in anger, not letting go of Roman. Logan on the other hand started to understand, while Virgil tried to pry the red Patton off of Roman, which worked after a few minutes. Virgil made some breathing with the red Patton, before he asked:“Calm again?“ The red Patton growled, an indicator that he was not THAT calm, but it would do until Logan found the solution of the problem, and BOY, did they have a problem.

„We need to split up. We need to find every Patton in the mindspace!“ Roman and Virgil looked like Logan just told them, that science-fiction movies of the 80s were realistic, both of them not really understanding what Logan was indicating. And so explained Logan, how he build the seperating-beam, how Patton got hit and how Patton got seperated into different beings of himself, which were now roaming around the mindplace.

The three of them weren’t wasting any time, quickly parking the joyful green Patton and the grumpy and aggressive red Patton in the living-room, before splitting up and looking around, Roman immediatly spotting the first one in the kitchen. He had lavender skin, purple hair and amethyst eyes, he was also sitting on the table and eating bananas, throwing the peels on the ground like he actually wants someone to slip on them.

Roman huffed in annoyance and took a step, immediatly slipping on one and causing the purple Patton to howl in laughter, clapping with his hands and throwing his head back, giving Roman enough time to grab the purple Patton and also Park him in the living-room, not letting any of them out of his sight. Virgil ran around, trying to think of a place one of the Patton’s would go to. He didn’t know how he actually got to the bathroom, but it seemed logical to him. He opened the door, and there actually was someone. 

He flinched violently as he heard the light creaking of the door, staring at Virgil with wide eyes and causing the heart of the anxious trait to melt. He was light-blue with dark-blue hair and deep blue eyes with way too much eyeshadow under his eyes. He was laying in the bathtub, which was filled to the brim, rose petals swimming inside the water with the blue Patton still wearing his clothes.

He looked sad and frightened to the core, water splashing around as he flinched and shivered. Virgil raised his hands, slowly approaching like the Patton was a scared animal, the anxious trait cooing softly: „Shhh, it’s alright. I got you.“ Virgil reached the bathtub and knelt down, putting his hands on the cool surface of the tub, looking at the blue patton with a soft smile.

„Are you the anxiety of Patton?“ The Patton didn’t answer, he shivered violently, but seemed to calm down, slowly inching closer towards Virgil and putting one of his hands above his, looking at Virgil with big eyes. Virgil smiled as he grabbed the anxious Patton around his waist and lifted him out of the tub, the purple Patton completely dripping with water and making Virgil wet in the process, but he didn’t really care.

However, he DID care as he heard Logan, noises of discomfort reaching the anxious trait as he sped up, towards Logan’s bedroom and stopping at the sight. Logan certainly found another Patton. He was pastell-pink with hot pink hair and deep red eyes, that almost looked like hearts. It was kinda terrifying. Especially because this Patton tried to take Logan’s shirt off, grinning seductively at the logical trait.

„VIRGIL, HELP!“ Pleaded Logan, who tried to back further off, but the closet behind him didn’t allow him to do so. Virgil just kinda stood there for a couple of seconds, mouth open and the anxious Patton on his arms, before he put the purple Patton down and instructed him to walk to the living-room. He quickly came to Logan’s aid, prying the pink Patton off of Logan, who quickly straightened his shirt and tie. „This seems to be Patton’s lustful side.“ Huffed Logan, looking at the pink Patton in slight distress, while the pink one simply winked at him, still smiling. „I didn’t even know Patton HAD a lustful side. He thought adultery is the process of growing up!“ Virgil couldn’t wrap his head around it and neither could Logan.

But Logan grabbed the lustful side and carried him to the living-room, dropping him on the sofa and sitting as far away from the pink side as possible. „Was that everyone?“ Asked Roman, looking around. He found in the living-room another Patton, who almost threw himself out of the window and called him bravery, which meant, that they currently had six different Patton’s, all of them laughing or bickering, snickering, growling at each other. It was almost cute if it wouldn’t be so incredible WRONG!

„I’m not sure, I didn’t see in how many Patton’s our Patton split up, but I believe this is not everyone.“ Roman’s and Virgil’s eyes widened, looking at each other in slight distress. There was at least one more Patton roaming around and he could be anywhere and- „What’s going on around here? Family, meeting?“ Everyone turned their heads, spotting a Patton with white skin and black hair, eyeliner around his eyes and beautifully highlighting his black orbs. He looked rather disinterested at the crowds, Logan immediatly instructing:

„Sit. Now.“ This Patton simply shrugged, ‘tse'ing at the group before saying: „When did I declare you as my boss? Sorry if I forgot that.“ But he sat down anyway, so Logan didn’t say anything to the comment. „I think that is anyone.“ Said Logan, counting the seven and trying to remember the ghosts flying around. „How do we get OUR Patton back?“ This comment was rude, at least to the anxious Patton, who started crying suddenly, the creative trait getting a glare from Virgil.

Logan admitted: „I do not know that just yet. I might need to repair the machine, but as long as this isn’t done, we gotta live with them.“ Virgil shrugged, before looking at the Patton’s, still feeling a little distress as he saw them all in one line. „They need names. So they immediatly know we mean them.“ Roman looked at everyone of them, thinking intently, before pointing at the red one: „Anger.“ „WHO YOU CALLING ANGRY?!“ Snapped the red Patton, growling at the creative trait. He pointed at the orange one:

„Bravery.“

„I’M HEREBY READY TO CARRY THIS NAME!“ Announced bravery, striking a heroic pose. The green one was easy: „Happy.“ It was catchier then happiness and caused the green Patton to squeal. „I like this!“ He pointed at the blue one and announced: „Gloom.“ Gloom sighed, a sad look on his face. „I guess this is the best name you could find for someone like me.“ The Pink Patton was really easy.

„Lust.“ The pink Patton licked his lips before deciding: „While I prefer 'Daddy’, Lust will be fine for the time being.“ Nobody liked the look he gave Logan as he said that. The purple one was a little hard to find a catchy name for, but Roman just settled with: „Jokester.“ causing the puple Patton to laugh loudly, wiping happy-tears away. The rebellious one was rather hard to decide on a name, since Roman wasn’t sure what part he actually was, but then he got it and finally decided on the name: 

„Sass.“ The rebellious Part rolled with his eyes and snapped: „Why do you get to decide my name, who are you to decide this, conformist?!“ The sides looked at each other, before they looked at the seven Patton’s on the couch, one thought crossing all of their minds. While Logan thought about the machine he had to finish to safe Patton, Roman thinking about all of this being possible at all, Virgil being worried for Patton maybe not returning, all of them thought about the same thing: Getting Patton back. And as long as that wasn’t possible, live with his parts as long as necessary.


	2. Chaos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A friend of mine helped to write this chapter, but she doesn't have an AO3 Account. This is her tumblr if you want to check her out! https://at-least-seven-pretty-potatoes.tumblr.com/

Logan couldn’t stay in the living room with eight different Patton’s any longer, there were certainly too much thoughts swirling inside of his mind. „I will retreat into my room to try and fix this…“ He casted a glance towards all Patton’s who were staring at him, each of their eyes sparkling with a different emotion.

„…Incident. Please only disrupt me if it is an absolute emergency.“ This wasn’t the only reason he had to get away as fast as possible away from everything and catch a break in his room. He felt unwanted emotions, they were clawing at his heart and causing him unbearable chest-pains.

Logan knew those feelings very well, the last time he felt them being the time all of them moved to Patton’s room in the video „Moving on“, that Thomas decided to make. He could quench the guilt last time by making a simple cat hoodie, but a cat hoodie wasn’t going to fix this mess! He needed to start working immediatly, so he would be able to get Patton back as fasrt as possible.

Virgil was watching after Logan, silent the whole time and wondering just what exactly was going on in the mind of the logical trait right about now. What did he feel, did he even feel?

Virgil was never too sure about this, but what he did know was, that there were seven Patton’s on their couch, the poor piece of furniture creaking under the massive weight. Virgil was planning to go after Logan and talk him out of whatever he was going to do, claiming that they needed him to take care of every Patton that was currently wildly discussing on the couch. Until he saw how anger rammed his elbow in Gloom’s rips, the gloomy part coughing and wincing in pain and hunching his shoulders up as the angry part hissed at him: „Do you mind?! I need my space!“ 

„Sorry.“ Was Gloom’s meek answer as he tried to shift as far away from Anger as possible, his eyes shining like he was about to cry and Virgil felt a flash of memories in his mind. Gloom reminded him so much of… himself. In Thomas’ teengaer years, the phase he really started to develop into a side and was rudely shoved away and unaccepted by Roman and Logan, Patton being the only one of the light sights, that smiled at him and looked out for him.

In times where no one wanted Virgil, Patton was there to make him feel better, to ease his anxieties and made him feel at least somewhat better. And now was Patton sitting in front of him, just like he did all those years, looking scared and sad and Virgil could almost see himself in the gloomy side. The anxious trait didn’t care if it was just a part of Patton, it was still Patton and he would look out for Gloom.

He moved closer to the couch, sitting between Gloom and Anger, who shouted various insults at Virgil but never dared to say something worse than ‘meanie’, so Virgil should be fine after he shot Anger a quick glare. The angry part screamed out of fury and actually wanted to tackle Virgil down, but Bravery was jumping at Anger, before he could reach Virgil.

„IF YOU WANNA FIGHT, ALP, THEN FIGHT ME!“ Both of them grunted and yelled as they wrestled with each other, throwing themselves off the couch and rolling on the ground now, all of them watching the scene. Roman jumped out of the way as the two Patton’s reached him, quickly grabbing both of them by the collar and heaving them up, looking absolutely lost. Both of them were squirming and trying to get away, but Roman placed them back on the couch, as far away as possible and shot them a glare, looking helplessly at Virgil who put an arm around Gloom and started to whisper some reassurance to him. 

The gloomy side still looked a little blue, not only because of his skin and hair, but was actually snuggling up to Virgil, seemingly enjoying the warmth the anxious trait gave him. „So, what are we going to do?“ Asked Virgil, arching an eyebrow and looking at Roman, who suddenly snapped back to reality, biting his nails nervously as he started pacing. What WERE they going to do?! And why was EVERY Patton staring at him, waiting for an answer?! 

„Why are you asking me?! I’m not doing the plans, Logan is the guy who does the plans! And…. Patton is the one that keeps our spirits and motivation high…“ Roman slumped in on himself, looking suddenly incredibly lost and defeated, which caused Virgil to frown. Both of them always knew, but never acknowledged how much Patton actually influenced them, and now that he wasn’t here Roman started to lose his confidence, Virgil taking a deep breath and trying to reassure Roman as best as he could: „Hey, Princey. We need you alright? Logan will figure this out, he always does, and as long as he works on it, we have to get along with these guys here.

What do you think we should do?“ Roman took a deep breath, trying to ground himself as best as possible. He could do this, he just had to watch over some Patton’s with Virgil, he could handle it. „I think Thomas should be fine, shouldn’t he? I mean, technically is Patton still here, he still does his job. He should just be kinda moody but apart from that fine. Let’s just keep them all in one place until we figure this out.“ Virgil thought for a short moment before deciding, that Roman seemed to be right. Everything of Patton was still there, his emotions were just split up, so Thomas should be fine.

He just wanted to agree with Roman’s plan as Sass suddenly stood up, eyeing everyone in annoyance before remarking: „Whatever, I’m out, I only stand that much stupidity per day.“ Virgil and Roman were a little flabbergasted, never expecting a Patton to be so… snarky and rude. Roman looked at Virgil, who quickly thought of a plan and proposed: 

„You get Sass, I watch over the other guys.“ Roman nodded, adding a quick: „You got it!“ Before sprinting off to get the sassy side, the moment Roman left the room chaos absolutely erupting and Virgil staring completely overwhelmed at everything. He didn’t expect that to happen. The only part still on the couch was Gloom, who had his hands over his ears and his eyes screwed shut, trying to drown the noise out but simply unable to do so. Virgil could understand him, he was also pretty sensitive to his surroundings and wanted to comfort the sad part, but was a little distracted as Bravery started knotting some blankets together to make a rope and opened a window, exclaiming:

„I DON’T FEAR DYING AS LONG AS I CAN FEEL THE THRILL OF ADVENTURE!“ Virgil made a strangled noise and quickly stood up, grabbing the brave part around his waist and pulling him back just in time, sighing mentally in relief. That was a close one. He dragged the orange Patton towards the couch and turned the TV on, changing the channel to some stupid survival-show and sighing in relief as this seemed to hold Braverys attention.

„Okay, listen, Gloom. I need to get the other Patton’s, take those if you wanna go to sleep alright? Try to ignore everything, they won’t hurt you. I will make sure of that.“ He handed the blue Patton the blanket and Pillow the actual Patton always snuggled himself into when he watched TV. Gloom nodded only, feeling even sadder as Virgil left, thinking he scared the anxious trait away and scolding himself mentally for screwing up again.

Viril looked around. He saw Happy walking into the kitchen, Anger was still in the living-room, ranting about the volume, even though he was by far the loudest, about the other sides, about absolutely everything, so Virgil just placed him in front of the TV, where he started to rant about the characters, starting to bicker with Bravery, but they were at least together, he could work with that. Virgil looked around again. Nope, Jokester was completely gone, no idea where he went, so Virgil wanted to get Happy, but had to stop and stare as he saw the kitchen.

Everything was a literal Pigsty, Happy was covered in Flour, just like the counter and floor, some broken eggs are on the ground, the bowl on the counter overflowing with ingredients and Happy looking sheepishly at Virgil, apparently just realizing what a mess he actually made. „Sorry.“ He quickly sad, smiling innocently while Virgil’s eye twitched in slight irritation. Happy wanted to make cookies, nothing unusal for the actual Patton, but the missing anxiety, which Gloom had more than enough of, prevented Happy from actually messuring the ingredients and to watch out to not make a total mess. Virgil wanted to scream, but he contained himself, just sounding really tired as he said:

„Happy. Go. Watch TV.“ The green Patton tilted his head slightly, observing the anxious trait and trying to speak up: „But-“ „Please.“ Begged Virgil, looking intently at Happy, who simply shrugged and hopped away, claiming: „I will clean this up later then!“ He certainly won’t, Virgil was sure of it. But now he had to find Jokester, a loud clattering followed by a yell causing Virgil to flinch and his head to whip around, noise coming from the bedrooms, immediatly sprinting to the source of noise.

Roman catched up as he and Sass reached the bedrooms, all the doors immediatly giving away to whose room it led, the creative trait looking at the goth Roman didn’t really know how to approach this Patton, so he just kinda grabbed his arm in a panic, the sassy part immediatly hissing and ripping his arm away, snapping at the fanciful side:

„Don’t touch me, conformist! Why don’t you go back and play fairytale with the other conformists? I’m sure Lust would happily be the princess for you!“ Okay, Roman did really not expect this. The surprise caused the creative trait to let go and Sass to disappeart into Patton’s room, banging the room shut.

Roman shuddered, the mere thought of Lust as his princess a little too much for him. And he had to admit, he was kinda scared of Sass. Sure, he fought greater evils, dragon-witches, sorcerers, guinea pigs, but this guy had still Patton’s face and was even sassier than Virgil. He would leave Sass alone for a while, he was probably the side that would cause the least trouble, so he just backed slowly off, perking up as he heard a quiet noise in the bathroom. Roman ran towards it, ripping the door open and screaming as a bucket filled with water landed on his head, surrounding him in darkness and causing him to yell, because the water was almost frozen and the bucket actually hurt.

Roman shook the bucket off, staring at the big bathroom, spotting Jokester sitting on the toilet, laughing like mad, clapping with his hands while almost falling down, Gloom laying in the bathtub next to him, watching the scene with big eyes. Virgil quickly appeared behind Roman, the creative trait actually flinching as the anxious trait put a hand on his shoulder, asking him if he was alright. Roman kinda snapped at this comment: „NO! I’m not alright! Patton is GONE and now we have to take care of seven different Patton’s that have literally no other goals than TORMENTING ME!“

He screamed the last words, causing gloom to sink down as much as possible to make himself invisible, while Virgil stared at Roman in shock. He really didn’t expect this. „Jokester. Go to the living-room and watch TV, please.“ The purple Patton was a little threatened by the creative trait and simply nodded, quickly leaving the bathroom and running down the hallway, Virgil again putting his hand on Roman’s shoulder. He looked back at Roman, who looked… defeated.

He was hunched over slightly, and he’d swept his soaked bangs away from his face and up to the top of his head, showing clearly the crease in his brow at the frown. “I know that this is hard, Roman. I know that… it’ll continue to be hard for who knows how long, but… we can do it.” Virgil put his hand on Roman’s soaked shoulder. 

Roman finally made surprised eye contact. They got on fine now, they still had the small argument every now and then, but they were friends. Nonetheless, Virgil wasn’t the type of person to initiate physical contact. 

“We owe it to Patton. He’d done so much to help us, and we owe it to him, honestly.” Virgil continued. He let out a shuddering breath. “And I’m scared too. But we’ve got to do it. For Patton. You, Logan and I, we’ve got what it takes, I think. And even if we don’t, we have to summon whatever it takes. If there’s anyone I know that can do that, it’s you, Princey.” 

And it was true. Roman had always been confident to Virgil . He’s always been this sure of himself. Sure, it was sometimes annoying. But now it was what they needed. And he needed the old Roman back. He knew it would take time, but he believed in Roman. 

Roman allowed Virgil’s words to sink in… And had to admit to himself that Virgil was right, even though he would never admit that, because Roman was always right and Virgil was… right. No time for any bickering. It was Patton who needed them! “Don’t worry, I’m not nearly as defeated as I look!” He gave Virgil a pat on the back and wrung his soaked sash, announcing: “You get Ruby Gloom over there, I will change my attire to something more… suitable, to keep these Patton’s at bay! I believe in you my dark knight!”

With those words he quickly fled from the room. It was true, his robes were truly not made for babysitting, he needed something more comfortable and strechting to do this job! And he thought he had the right thing in his closet. Just a little trip to his room. He opened the door and screamed again as yet another bucket fell on him, his frustration slightly rising.

He shook the bucket off and let out an infuriated yell, but quickly turned around and assured Virgil that he was alright, before closing the door to change his outfit. He could really use a nap, even though he was the side that almost never slept since he took care of ideas AND dreams. 

Virgil’s gaze shifted to Gloom, who was still hiding in his bathtub, the water probably not even warm anymore. Virgil sat on the closed toilet seat and shot Gloom a light smile, causing him to retreat even further. He sat in the bathtub, curled to a ball with the blanket Virgil gave him wrapped around himself and fully clothed. „Hey, how’re ya doing?“ Asked Virgil, smiling slighty, while Gloom didn’t meet his eyes.

„Fine.“ He answered a little meek, causing Virgil to frown. „I know that you are probably scared and confused, but Roman wasn’t mad at you. Trust me. He is just confused, like everyone of us, but we will get through this alright? Logan’s fixing it right now, so don’t worry?“ Gloom finally met Virgil’s gaze, eyes tearing up as he exclaimed: „How do you wanna know, that Logan can fix this. And even if he does, what good am I anyway? Patton doesn’t need a party-pooper like me to destroy his good mood.“ He rolled on his side, facing the wall and away from Virgil, whispering to himself: „No one needs me.“

Virgil scrunched his eyebrows together, all of this talking too familiar to him. „Do you… Need anything? A cookie or something?“ Gloom shook his head, answering quietly: „Someone else probably wants to eat it, and I don’t wanna make anyone sad or mad, because I was eating his cookie.“ Virgil felt sad, knowing that Gloom wasn’t able to think positive, but his words still causing great discomfort in his entire being.

„I will leave you alone for a little while, all right? I will look for you again in a few minutes.“ Gloom didn’t answer, just rolled a little more together, Virgil leaving the bathroom and closing the door, going back into the living room and happily seeing, that every Patton he caught was now sitting on the couch and watching the stupid survival-show. He sat on the couch too and started dozing off, feeling completely exhausted after this day.

Meanwhile was Roman in his room, watching himself in the mirror. All right, this should do the trick. He was wearing the Christmas-Sweater he and Patton made, party out of nostalgia and partly, because he was hoping the sides would recognize it. He stroke a heroic pose in front of his mirror and pouted slightly, due to the fact that he didn’t look very heroic in a christmas sweater and baggy pants. But well. It should be enough to watch over some Patton’s. Roman never believed, that he would even THINK about something like that, it was insane…

He opened the door and exited his room, wartching out for any mor buckets that were falling down, but nothing happened. That was almost too easy. He poked his head out and looked right, then left, before slowly exiting the room, quickly running to the living room, spotting all the sides and Virgil on the couch. Well, except for Ruby Gloom, and Mortimer Goth.

He wouldn’t get Sass, no way, he already had enough and Gloom probably wanted to be alone. He kinda nudged Virgil and frowned as he didn’t react. Wait a minute. He slowly counted every Patton. There was Anger, Bravery, Happy, Jokester, minus Gloom and Sass… Those were still only six! Someone was missing! But who was it?! His eyes roamed around, trying to remember the Patton, that wasn’t there. 

“DAMMIT, WHO IS MISSING?!” He didn’t want to say this out loud and quickly slammed his hands over his mouth, staring in shock. Virgil jerked awake and nearly fell off the couch the same moment that all Patton’s sides glared reproachfully at Roman, admonishing: “Language!” 

Virgil pressed a hand to his chest, taking deep breaths as he calmed down. He looked around him, and his heart dropped in his chest when he remembered the situation they were in. He frowned up at Roman. “What’s the problem?” 

Roman turned away from the sides, who were all listening in. “Someone isn’t here.” 

Virgil looked back at the sides, eyes widening as he counted them. “Who’s missing?” 

“Lust!” Bravery answered, shouting much louder than need be. “He left whenever Roman went to get Sass.” 

“Lust?” Out of all the sides that could have gone missing, it had to be Lust?! He looked back to Roman, who had a look of dread. 

“Well where could he have gone?” Roman asked, frowning. 

Virgil stared down at the carpet, before hurriedly glancing up at Roman. “Where’s Logan?”


	3. Sassy Lust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A warning for smoking and a little bit of dirty talk in this chapter, but it's nothing too drastic, so don't worry.

It was at the moment that Logan left the room where Lust began plotting. He didn’t feel like sitting on a couch and doing nothing the whole day His gaze shifted to every Patton, the pink one just recognizing that he was one of the oldest ones in their group. Happy was as old as him, as old as the original Patton, Anger and Bravery were a little younger but still adults, Jokester and Sass were in their late Teenager years and precious little Gloom was just a child, he was not older than 12, probably even younger.

It was rather fascinating how all of them matured differently, with Gloom being by far the smallest out of them. But he had no time to think about this too much. Lust wanted to get away, and he knew when the perfect time was. Roman was gone, so he wouldn’t be a problem and Virgil was currently taking care of Anger and Bravery, the lustful part spotting his chance of escape, but not quite taking it, the risk being a little too big for him.

He knew, that Happy disappeared into the kitchen to do whatever Happy wanted to do, and Lust knew, that Virgil saw it too. After he took care of Anger and Bravery, he would go into the kitchen to get Happy and that was Lust’s chance to escape. He observed Virgil placing Anger and Bravery in front of the TV and put on some stupid show, before he disappeared into the kitchen. Gloom perked up as he spotted the anxious trait gone and also took his chance for a escape. Clever kid. 

But Lust had no time to gush, he had to go too. He quickly hurried out of the room, looking around him to find the direction where the bedrooms were. As he found the right hallway, he quickly walked towards it, already spotting the doors in the distance while at the same time scrunching his nose together as the smelt the acrid scent of wet paint assaulting his nose and the lustful part shuddered, no time to investigate the source. He didn’t feel absolutely confident in himself and didn’t quite understand Logan’s reaction as they encountered for the first time. Lust was always in ‘the mood’ and wondered if it was just him or if the others felt the same way.

He had asked Happy about it, but the green Patton simply shrugged and gave him a confused smile, leaving Lust only more confused than ever, asking himself if something was wrong with him. Every single time he was Logan, he wanted to practically assault him with love and tell him how much he meant to Patton and each and every part of him, but the truth is, that he didn’t know if this only applied to Lust or to the other parts as well. 

He was really hoping that whatever he was feeling would finally settle down once he got a little further into whatever he wanted to have with Logan. Lust had reached the doors to the bedrooms of every light side, noticing how different just every door was. All of them where white by default, but almost all of them had changed it during the process of Thoma’s maturing. Roman’s door was scarlet with a golden knob, classic for the fanciful side, while Patton’s door was a light shade of blue with a sign of his name in glitter ususally hanging there, but Lust couldn’t help but notice that it was currently missing, causing a light frown on the face of Lust. Where could it have gone to?

The lustful trait quickly shook his head and moved on to the next door, which was painted black with little violet Patches matching the jacket of the owner of the room behind the door. Lust smiled as he remembered Virgil changing the door after the Video where they decided which Hogwarts house they should all be in. It was funny, even though Lust didn’t really see himself as a Hufflepuff, but oh well.

Logan’s door was still white and the logical trait had never even once changed it, cold hard logic being always logic and not actually changing. It was kinda sad, really, but the mere gaze he had on the door caused a heat to spread in his stomach, so he simply had to enter and see what Logan was up to. He wished there was a mirror in the hallway, he wanted to look his sunday-good or at least his tuesday-pretty-alright, but he didn’t know if he looked presentable. He discared the hoodie wrapped around his shoulders and abandoned it on the floor, ruffling his hear slighty and flashing his most seductive grin.

It should do the trick. So he slowly opened the door, greeting the logical trait with a simple: „Hey Logan.“ But was quickly overwhelmed by the stench, smelling like something was burning on the stove. There was a device as tall as Lust in the room, that was apparently supposed to be something similar to a canon, but the metal melted and now it just looked like a hunk of junk. Logan was sitting at his desk that was overflowing with papers, the lustful trait slowly inching closer as the logical trait didn’t answer.

He had to do this clever and in tactical advance. He walked towards the desk and was sitting on it, one leg over the other and leaning slightly back as he drawled: „What’s cookin, good lookin’?“ Okay, maybe that wasn’t the clever approach of the situation he wanted to have but at least it caused Logan to look up and Lust’s breath to catch in his throat. 

Logan’s hair was ruffled from the numerous times he ran with his hair through it, his back was slightly hunched and his tie slightly loosened and Lust bit his lip at the sight. „Is there any way I can help you P-“ He took a deep breath and shook his head slightly, keeping his eyes closed for a few more moments, before he said: „What do you want, Lust?“ The lustful part simply grabbed Logan’s tie and pulled him a bit closer, whispering seductively: „I think you know exactly what I want.“ Logan cleared his throat, an uncomfortable look gracing his features as he quickly loosened his tie and discared it, so Lust was merely holding the blue tie and Logan could stand up and create some space between them, but Lust was having none of that, especially as Logan continued: „I think you came to the wrong place.“

The logical trait turned around, recoiling slightly as Lust was standing right in front of him, the hearts in his eyes glowing and beating slightly, the pink Patton placing his hands on Logan’s shoulders and pouting slightly as he cooed: „You should really take a break Logan. I would allow you to break me.“ He inched closer and whispered in Logan’s ear: „Let me take care of you.“ The logical trait didn’t expect that and choked on the air he was breathing in, blushing furiously and shoving the lustful trait away as he tried to regain his posture, feeling irritated and flustered to no end and stuttering slightly as he said: „I- I think you should leave.“ Lust was pouting at that, before whining: „Aw, come on Logy bear.“ 

This caused Logan to snap, as that was the nickname Patton always used to gently get him off his work if he was too wrapped up in it. „Leave, Lust. Now.“ His tone was srious and there was no note of frustration or embarrassement audible. It was almost scary but Lust tried nontheless one more time: „But-.“ He didn’t get very far as Logan snapped: „GO!“ 

Lust was aware that Logan started to get really angry and saw no possibility to calm the logical trait down, so he simply hung his head and left the scene, the moment he closed the door loud crashing in Logan’s room audible, but Lust felt to rejected to do anything right now. But he wasn’t ready to give up just now. He just had to allow his bruised ego to heal and to think of a better plan to approach Logan.

 

 

Virgil was walking down the hallway, not fast enough to be jogging but not slow enough to be walking as he looked for the lustful part of Patton, pretty sure he knew where he was and pry him off of poor Logan, who just wanted to work on the machine to bring Patton back. Virgil honestly didn’t expect to practically run into lust, the hearts in his eyes dimly lit and a little cracked, which Virgil barely paid attention too as he tried to calm his anxiety down, thinking about the things Lust might say to him.

He already armored himself for any attempts at flirting, but Lust just brushed past him with a quiet: „Sorry.“ Before he left, walking back into líving room and causing Virgil to raise an eyebrow, as he was not directly expecting this reaction from Lust of all people. But Virgil felt relieved nontheles, not sure if he would be able to handle any drastic flirting-attempts Lust would throw at him. But Virgil frowned slighty as he went through every Patton in his mind. Anger, Bravery, Happy, Jokester and now Lust were in the living room while Gloom was in the bathtub in the bathroom, but there was still a missing Patton. 

It dawned on him and Virgil groaned inwardly. Sass still hasn’t come back from wherever he went, so he went to look for the goth instead. As he reached the hallways with the bedrooms he got assaulted by the smell of wet paint and he already had a dreading feeling of where exactly Sass was, his suspicion only rising as he noticed that the glitter-sign at Patton’s door was gone. 

He took a deep breath and opened the door, confronted with the sight of Sass standing on the wheeled desk chair that was normally at Patton’s desk, the simple sight of that causing Virgil to worry and his anxiety to rise, even before he noticed what exactly Sass was doing. He was holding a paint-roller that was coated with black paint, the wall he was currently at being halfly painted black while his other hand was in the pocket of…

Was that Virgil’s old hoodie?! The anxious trait couldn’t believe it. Not only was he painting Patton’s room black but he was also wearting Virgil’s clothes and cramping on his style?! He had to stop this farce, the sassy part looking around and groaning as he spotted Virgil: „Don’t you know how to knock?“ Virgil glared at the goth and asked apathetically: „Hey Black-Parade, what are you doing?“ Sass 'tse’d and answered snarkily: „Like you’re one to talk, Purple Plum. What does it look like, conformist? I’m painting the room. Even you should be able to see that, Virgin.“ The anxious trait blinked. 

He forgot for a moment that he was talking to the sassy part of Patton and wasn’t expecting to be served like that, his brain stopping to function for a moment as he answered: „Like… You’re one to talk.“ Virgil cringed as his own voice saying those words, his shame only growing as Sass raised one eyebrow at him. What was that, kindergarten? He was almost disappointed in himself, and apparently, so was Sass. He was slowly putting his hands together, like he was about to clap but stopped halfway, before answering: 

„You know, I would applaud you for that bomb you just dropped, but I don’t care enough for conformists like you, so a half-clap has to do it. Are there any other reasons you chose to distract me, other than that epic battle of wits we just fought out?“ Sass pulled a pair of cigarettes out of the pocket his hand was in the whole time and pulled one of them out of the carton, lighting it up with the lighter he had in the same pocket and put it in his mouth, taking a deep breath to slightly calm himself down.

„If you would excuse you, I’m kinda busy here as you obviously couldn’t see.“ Virgil, on the other hand, wasn’t feeling calm at all as he saw that. Not only got he served by Sass, but now he was smoking too?! Virgil didn’t even know that Patton HAD a side that actually wanted to smoke, and he wasn’t sure if the smoke would have an influence on Thomas, but the emo wasn’t taking any risks. „Stop that.“ His voice was far more secure than Virgil actually felt, especially after Sass gave him yet another look and deadpanned:

„I’m sorry, I think I forgot the moment I declared, that you could decide what I do and what I don’t, conformist, my bad.“ To proof his point he took another deep breath, kept the smoke in his lungs for a few moments before he blew it right in Virgil’s face, the anxious trait recoiling at the toxic smoke assaulting his nostrils and eyes, the taste of smoke already on his tongue and causing him to gag slightly. „All right, I’ve had enough of you.“ 

He approached the sassy tried and grabbed his arm, trying to led him gently off the chair, but Sass was so surprised by that, that he inhaled sharply, for a moment forgetting the cigarette in his mouth and inhaling too much smoke way too fast, causing him to cough violently and shove Virgil away at the same time, wheezing: „Don’t touch me, conformist!“ before another coughing fit came up, the body of the goth trying to get the smoke out of his lungs. He was starting to get impatient and not even the cigarette calmed him down, so he took it out of his mouth and threw it on the ground jumping on it and putting it out that way, before he glared at Virgil as he exclaimed: 

„Leave now! I can’t stay in a room with conformists the whole day! It was bad enough when I was Patton with all the other conformists. At least now I can finally be myself!“ Virgil growled at the sassy part of Patton, before he left the room, leaving the door open as he stomped down the stairs to get Roman to help him with this guy, because he was simply too much.

Roman was sitting on the couch with Jokester and Lust, while playing a round of go fish with Bravery, Happy and Anger, the last one throwing his card across the table and hitting Bravery in the process, ranting about the game as he noticed that he was losing, causing Jokester to laugh loudly and clap and Lust to stifle his giggle as he put a hand in front of his face, his fingers only touching his lips slightly. Bravery declared war against Anger and threw an ace art Anger, who snarled at the orange Patton and jumped across the table, the two wrestling once again, Roman watching them with a tired smile. 

Roman looked really comfortable in his sweater and baggy pants, but Virgil had no time for that, even though it looked really adorable. Roman turned around, looking at Patton and asking: „Ah, my dark knight returns. How was your quest?“ He stopped as he saw the look on Virgil’s face and immediatly asked: „What’s the problem.“ Virgil rolled his eyes: „Sass is the problem. He’s not listening to me and is nothing but trouble! Can you get him?“ Roman’s cheeks heated slightly as he remembered his encounter with Sass, quickly saying:“ I… Don’t think that is a good idea.“ He beckoned Virgil closer and whispered the whole story in his ear, causing Virgil to blush just as furiously and to give Lust a quick glance who was smiling sligty at him and forming a heart with his hands.

Lust as Roman’s pricess was… kinda scary. Roman chimed up again: „I mean, I COULD go and get him, not problem in that, but I would prefer if you… would come with me, to watch my back, you know?“ Roman didn’t wanna go alone, but Virgil didn’t really feel like teasing him about it, so he just nodded and turned around, walking towards the hallway with the bedrooms, Roman quickly following him, leaving the Patton’s in the living room to laugh, rant, fight and play with each other.


	4. Drop the Bucket

Virgil couldn’t help himself and snickered as they were in the hallway and away from the other Patton’s. „He really told you to go play fairytale with Lust?“ The blush on Roman’s cheeks intensified and he groaned slightly as he hid his face in his hands. He really didn’t want to talk about his awkward encounter with Sass, Roman didn’t want to admit it, but he got served by the sassy part and he never felt that humiliated by anyone, not even during his rap-battle with Logan.

He didn’t even know why it got to him that much, it really wasn’t that bad, but Roman was a proud person and he felt his ego being bruised when he just looked at Sass the wrong way. „By the way, I saw Black Parade the last time when he stormed in Patton’s room. What did he do anyway?“ Virgil rolled with his eyes as he answered: „He painted the complete room black!“

Roman shot Virgil a shocked glare, the fanciful trait unable to imagine Patton’s colourful room in complete black. „He did NOT!“ Virgil groaned, really not in the mood to talk with Roman like this, so he simply practically kicked the door open once they reached the room. Sass and Gloom, who seemed to have entered the room once Virgil left, flinched violently and turned around, Gloom looking like a deer in the headlights and Sass looking annoyed once he saw who disrupted them yet again.

„Does no one know how to KNOCK around here?!“ No one paid attention to him, Roman and Virgil were too stunned by the walls oft he room. Virgil must have been longer away than he thought, because one oft he walls was filled with painted vines in a white colour, some blossoms blooming and entrancing everyone with it’s elegant patterns. Sass had a real talent, but Gloom was taking not only Virgil’s but also Roman’s artistic heart by storm. He was making a giant portrait of them all. Bravery was heaving Anger, who looked really annoyed because of the weight he had to carry, because he had to carry Happy and Lust, who were sitting on the bench and laughing down at everyone.

Jokester was on the ground, about to throw a banana peel while snickering like mad. There were also marked names on the wall where the remaining sides were supposed to go. There were the names „Roman“, „Sass“, „Logan“, and „Virgil“. Roman’s jaw dropped and he spread his arms open and declared: „This is absolutely marvelous! Incredible! Amazing! I never knew Patton was THIS talented in art! Remind me to paint with him more often!“ Roman wasn’t wrong, Virgil was also completely entranced by the amazing art oft he sassy and gloomy part, not aware of the talent, that was hiding inside of Patton.

He had this card, sure, but it looked more like a children’s drawing, even though it was still super cute and looked amazing. Gloom was blushing like mad while Sass just rolled with his eyes and sat down on the chair he was standing on, looking annoyed at the two intruders. „Do you mind? We are kind of busy here?“ Virgil casted a glance towards Sass and countered: „If you would behave like an adult we would treat you as such, Black Parade.“ Sass hissed at Virgil before snapping: „I’m an adult, Purple Plum! Don’t treat me like a child!“

Virgil ignored Sass, simple as that, he really wasn’t in the mood for any discussions, instead he looked at the little shivering Gloom, his hoodie completely soaked with water and his hair dripping while he was currently painting the lines for Virgil in his picture, the anxious trait quickly coming to life on the wall and Virgil was completely mesmerized. But he couldn’t help but notice the little thing, that was missing.

He walked towards the wall and stopped once he was standing next to Gloom, kneeling down and asking softly: „Where are you?“ Gloom’s eyes widened as he looked at Virgil, asking meekly: „I… forgot?“ He tried to avoid Virgil’s gaze, because he knew, that the anxious trait knew. He knew, that Gloom was lying. For some reason he didn’t want to paint himself. And Roman noticed it too. „Ruby Gloom, you really should add yourself tot he portrait. It looks marvelous, it isn’t going to look worse just because you insert yourself in it.“

„That’s not it! I… painted this picture so neither you nor Patton will ever forget, that we exist…Even when wes top existing.“ Realization settled in Virgil’s stomach and he felt his guts churn at the thought. Right, once all of Patton’s parts are gone tob e Patton again, they would stop existing and never return. The mere thought was already sad, but the fact, that all of them apparently knew wasn’t going to make this any easier for them.

They deserved to be remembered, if they couldn’t get anything else. Virgil looked at the picture one more time, before he pointed to a blank spot right next to his painted version and asked: „How about you paint yourself here, right next to me?“ Virgil understood why Gloom didn’t want to paint himself. He thought, that no one wanted to remember him, because he was Gloom and no one would care about the negative emotions he carried around, but that simply wasn’t true and Virgil wanted him to show just that.

Gloom’s eyes widened and he hunched in a little on himself as he meekly answered: „Oh? I-I guess? If you want me to? Then… I guess I can do that…“ And then he smiled. It was a shy, little smile, but it was a smile and Virgil smiled back, causing Roman to grin widely, the atmosphere being really relaxing and warm at the moment.

„Yeah, right. I’m not allowed to paint the room black, but Gloom can do whatever he wants?“ Virgil looked up, ready to sass back, but to his surprise, he was smiling too, looking unusually relaxed and peaceful, apparently not trying to get on someones nerves and simply enjoying the atmosphere. Virgil stood up and looked at Roman with a smile: „I think we can allow them to finish their work.“ Roman snapped to attention and immediatly followed up by striking a heroic pose and instructing:

„You got it! Me and my chemically unbalanced romanced now have to watch over the other Patton’s! If you are finished you may return to us!“ „Yeah, right.“ Answered Sass, before he continued to paint, just like Gloom. Roman nudged Virgil gently with his arm and asked in a whisper: „Proud of yourself?“ Virgil raised an eyebrow and stared at Roman, asking: „For what?“ „For making Gloom smile.“ Virgil grinned a little flustered at that, ready to answer but flinching as Roman opened the door and a bucket filled with water fell down on him, Jokester leaning against the opposite wall and cackling loudly.

„THAT’S IT, COURT JESTER! THAT WAS THE LAST STRAW!“ Virgil couldn’t help but snicker slightly and at the same time thinking to himself, that Jester was probably a better name than Jokester. I think he will rename the funny part of Patton. He watched Roman chasing Jester for a while, the purple Patton laughing like crazy, until they reached the living room, where all the other Patton’s were sitting and giggling, clearly getting enjoyment out of Roman’s reaction. „Princey, our goal is to keep the Patton’s alive. Drop it.“ Roman stopped running after the purple Patton and pouted at Virgil, whining:

„You can say that so easily, because you didn’t get three buckets of water on your head!“ Roman sighed and slumped in his posture, suddenly looking very tired and saying: „I think I will go to bed now. You take care of them?“ Roman didn’t even wait for an answer as he slouched away and opened his door, everyone cringing at yet another bucket that fell on Roman’s head. Not even Jester was laughing, he cringed too, because he felt terrible.

It was supposed to be a harmless prank and he couldn’t have known, that Roman would get all of them. They had to see, how Roman’s posture slumped even more, the fanciful trait didn’t even bother to remove the bucket from his head. He just sighed quietly and stepped inside of his room , bucket still in his head and the Patton’s felt really bad. So did Virgil, who also sighed and looked at Jester, claiming: „You need to drop it.“

The funny part tried to safe the situation with a: „Like those buckets dropped?“, but he realised, that it wasn’t really the time for puns, so Jester just hung his head in shame and defeat and nodded slightly. „Okay, I’m going to clean up the mess in the kitchen. Happy, you’re in charge. Grab some of the blankets in the basket and make yourselves comfortable on the couch, all right?“ All the Patton’s saluted and started their little task, while Virgil went into the kitchen to mob the mess up, that Happy created in the kitchen at his try to make cookies.

It took a pretty long time, but Virgil was glad that it were only eggs and flour Happy spilled on the ground and counter, so when Virgil was finished he didn’t need to do anything else and watched over the kitchen in satisfaction, yawning loudly as his muscles and mind cried for a nap. But Virgil got one other surprise he didn’t expect once he entered the living room. Every Patton was actually asleep on the couch, all cuddled together in some blankets, apart from Happy, who was happily watching over his family.

Virgil smiled slightly, he had to admit, that those Patton’s were really adorable cuddled up like this. Virgil grabbed a blanket himself and decided, that he would just join them tonight on the couch. „Thank you Happy.“ Happy smiled at Virgil and answered: „Don’t mention it. My family ist he most important thing for me.“ Virgil nodded slightly, his head already drooping, before he fell backwards and fell into a deep sleep with the other Patton’s on the couch in the living room. Maybe this situation wasn’t as bad as it seemed.


End file.
